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AN ADDRESS, 



IN THE CHURCH AT PRINCETON 



THE EVENING BEFORE THE 



ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT 



COI.Z.EGZS OF NEW JERSEY, 



£2PT£MBER 24:, 1833. 



BY RICHARD S. '60XE, Esa. 



PUBLISHED AT THE REaUEST OF THE AMERICAN WHIG AND 
CLIOSOPHIC SOCIETIES. 




PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETIES, BY BAKER AND CONNOLLY. 



1833. 



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EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE CLIOSOPHIC SOCI- 
ETY, AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING, SEPT. 25, 1833, 
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to present to Richard S. 
CoxE, Esq., the thanks of this Society, for the able and eloquent 
address, delivered by him on Tuesday the 24th instant; and to request 
a copy for publication. 

SAMUEL R. HAMILTON, Esq., > 

Prof. ALBERT B. DOD, } Committee. 

DAVID N. BOGART, Esq., } 



EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE AMERICAN WHIG 
SOCIETY, AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING, SEPT. 25, 1833. 
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to present to Richard 
S. CoxK, Esq., the respectful acknowledgments of the American 
Whig Society, for the able and eloquent address, delivered by him 
on the 24th instant; and to request him to furnish this Society with 
a copy for publication. 

WILLIAM C. ALEXANDER, Esq., ) 

PRor. JOSEPH HENRY", } Committee. 

Mr. LEWIS P. W. BALCH, ) 



AN ADDRESS 



When after the lapse of 3^ear3, we revisit the scenes of 
our youth, endeared to our affections by a thousand attracting 
associations, memory awakens all the circumstances which 
gave interest and animation to that delightful period of life. 
Our former companions live again in our recollections: the 
objects which we had been accustomed to regard with 
veneration and respect, once more reappear to claim our 
homage, and the interval of time which has elapsed since our 
separation, seems like a fleeting shadow or a summer's dream. 
To one who was accustomed a quarter of a century since 
to tread the paths of Nassau Hall, to roam through the adja- 
cent woods and vallies, to trace out the historical and classical 
incidents with which they are associated, and to invest the 
whole with those attractions which individual feeling and 
. an intimate connexion with his personal friendships and 
imaginative aspirations must lend the scene, this place cannot 
but be rich in interesting recollections. With scarcely an 
exertion of the fancy he may transport himself back to former 
days. He may retrace his favorite haunts. He may almost 
expect at every turn to encounter some companion of his 



hours of study or of relaxation, or the venerable instructor, 
from whose lips he has derived lessons of virtue as well as 
scientific improvement. These objects of his reverence and 
affection J are no more to meet his eye : the illusion is 
dissolved. 

Hactenus annorum comites meorum 
Et memini et meminisse juvat. 

The dignified preceptor by whom he had been taught 
to revere virtue in her mildest form ; who blended the 
refinements of literature and the accomplishments of science 
with the bland attractions of personal manner and parental 
kindness, has departed. Those with whom he had been 
accustomed to mingle in his studies, and in the amusements 
of the day, are dispersed or dead. All that surrounds him is 
new. Nought remains to mark the spot, save the impress of 
nature's hand, and the solid and substantial edifices, whose 
strength remains unimpaired by time. 

The train of thought thus awakened, however full of 
melancholy, may be nevertheless salutary and beneficial. It 
is useful occasionally to withdraw our minds firom scenes of 
present and absorbing interest ; to view things divested of the 
false and delusive glare which clothes the objects that surround 
us ; to revert to former days and to compare the anticipations 
of youth with the realities of a more mature age. It is the 
dictate of wisdom to review^ our past progress — to examine 
the shoals which endangered our career — the rocks which 
menaced us with ruin — and to revere the skilful hand which 
directed our footsteps through the dangerous passages of life, 
and preserved us from that destruction by which we might 
otherwise have been overwhelmed. It is beneficial to test 



tiie judgments which we formerly passed upon men and 
things b}^ those whicli a more enlarged experience has ena- 
bled us to form, and thus to draw lessons of wisdom even 
from the errors and inexperience of our youth. 

It was within the precincts of a College that we formed our 
earliest acquaintance with man : that we learned, however 
imperfectly, to search beneath the surface of his conduct and 
his language, and to explore the hidden motives by which 
he was governed. It was here that we first saw in their 
incipient stages of developement, the exhibition of those virtues 
and those talents which have since manifested themselves in 
a more vigorous growth and upon a more extended theatre. 
How rarely has it happened that we have been disappointed 
in our youthful associates. The fond hopes in which parents 
have indulged, may never be reahzed ; the imperfect views 
which preceptors have formed, may prove inaccurate; but it is 
seldom that in the progress of hfe our early companions have 
risen much above or been depressed much below our antici- 
pations. The great outlines of individual character — the 
prominent features which distinguish it from others, begin to 
display themselves at an early period of life, and they do not 
commonly elude the observation of those who hourly mingle 
in all the scenes calculated to develope them. The manly 
and honorable youth becomes the elevated and honorable 
man. He who was in early life attracted by the charms of 
science and of literature, has found his enjoyments augment 
with the expansion of his mind. The warm and zealous 
friend may still be seen the object of affectionate solicitude, 
though years may have found him surrounded by new 
connexions and by other ties of endearment. The active 



8 

enterprise and contempt of danger which we admired amid 
our sports, have since been exhibited in the martial combat. 
The lofty aspiration after fame, and the generous devotion to 
country which have raised our admiration in after life, germi- 
nated and struck root within the walls of a College. The 
progress of time has rather changed in degree, than varied in 
character — rather modified than essentially altered, either the 
qualities of the heart or the faculties of the mind. 

In the particular course of our lives, the hopes of youth 
are more rarely realized : the anticipations of the future 
will seldom be found to harmonize with actual experience. 
Buoyed up by a youthful fancy — animated by an ardent 
imagination — we look forward upon the busy scenes of life 
which we are pressing to enter, with the most sanguine feel- 
ings. All its asperities and its irregularities — its abrupt 
acclivities — its rugged precipices are concealed or softened and 
melted down, when viewed through the flattering medium 
w^hich hope presents to our eyes. The imagination throws a 
mellowing mist over all the roughnesses of the road, and we 
see in the perspective but a smooth and easy ascent to the 
pinnacle of our wishes. Many of these beautiful illusions 
vanish upon a nearer approach. The soft blue with which 
our hopes had tinged the horizon of life, rounding into 
graceful curves its distant outline, is too frequently exchanged 
for the blackness of inaccessible precipices and the dark 
horrors of a stern reahty. Arduous struggles await us where 
we had looked for an easy progress — bitter enmities where 
we had anticipated tender attachment — rude repulses have 
been our portion where Ave had hoped for invitations of kind- 
ness, and envy and calumny have shed their bitterest vials 



upon our hctuls wlieie we had expected Iriendly encourage- 
ment and cordial sympatliy. The friends of our youth 
become estranged or separated, or disappear from our view, 
before time had hardened the affections of either, hke bubbles 
upon the passing stream : parents, whose hearts we had 
hoped to gladden and to remunerate for their labors of love, 
have sunk into the tomb ere our duty was half performed ; 
and when we have reached the meridian of life, we find 
few remain of all who, we had cherished the expectation, 
would have cheered us by their smiles of encouragement, 
rewarded us by their approbation, or soothed the anguish of 
disappointment. 

Even these mournful ideas may be rich in improvement 
and consolation. The past is not altogether a gloomy barren, 
nor have the bright beams which gilded the future, been 
wholly extinguished. When I he mind has been properly 
disciplined, an ample reward is furnished for the most 
arduous labor, and for a life of devoted privation, in the con- 
soling reflection that a solenui duty has been discharged. 
The individual who has not fettered himself in the galhng 
chains of an entire selfishness, looks abroad for his highest 
gratifications. He perceives himself surrounded by human 
beings possessed of powers and faculties similar to his own ; 
and in the alleviation of their miseries, and the addition 
which he finds himself able to make to their happiness, 
discovers new sources of exhaustless felicity. Regarding his 
country as the scene of all his enjoyments — as holding w^ithin 
her bosom all that is and has been dear to him — he considers 
himself as engaged in the discharge of obligations, the force 
of which he freely acknowledges, when he contributes his 



10 

exertions to the enlargement of her permanent and substan- 
tial good. Taught to aspire from the nothingness of the 
transient scenes around him, to the infinitely superior attrac- 
tions of another and a better world, his feelings of philan- 
thropy are submitted to a pure guidance, and gratitude to God 
stimulates him to renewed efforts to promote the happiness of 
man. The heart and the understanding are thus purified 
and strengthened, exalted and enlarged. He learns, not 
indeed, that happiness is a phantom which eludes the grasp, 
but that the road which leads to it may be mistaken. He is 
taught that while some objects of affection are unduly appre- 
ciated, the eye is ignorantly closed to the sources of the 
highest and purest enjoyment. 

We have pictured to ourselves a valley of happiness, similar 
to that which was presented to the view of the youthful Ras- 
selasj where perpetual spring was to gratify our senses with 
a succession of delightful odours, and where streams were to 
roll on their silvery waters, unrufifled by storms or tempests. 
We thought " the noiseless foot of time" would " only tread 
on flowers." If we have learned wisdom from experience, 
we have been taught that the ever active mind of man would 
have become attenuated and enfeebled in such a state of 
existence. We have discovered that we are made for exer- 
tion, and that in the vigorous application of his powers, 
moral and intellectual, man attains the most exalted hap- 
piness, and best performs the duties of his being. 

The constitution of his nature has imposed upon him the 
necessity for continued action. This paramount law of hit 
being, he can neither elude nor violate. No matter in what 
clime his lot may have been cast — no matter whether fortune 



u 

may liave smiled or frowned upon his birlh — no matter how 
the adventitious distinctions of rank may have elevated or 
depressed him in society — whether a monarch or a peasant — 
a freeman or a slave — his life is not one of listless inactivity. 
Indolence would poison every source of enjoyment, and would 
invest w^ith still darker gloom the storms of adverse fate. 
Active exertion gives a zest to life — augments its pleasures 
— mitigates its calamities. Virtue cannot exist, deprived of 
its firm support, and vice loses all those qualities which rescue 
it from contempt when it sinks into the languor of repose. 

It becomes then a matter of infinite moment, that this 
disposition to activity should assume a rational and proper 
direction. Hence arise the advantages of education. This, 
is the basis upon which must rest all those institutions which 
adorn our land ; reared for the purposes of instruction, and 
dedicated to the advancement of youth. Surrounded as we 
are in this place, by the memorials and the fruits of science 
and of literature, w^e cannot be insensible to the advantages; 
of early education. If we look around us and survey the 
present situation, or the past history of our coqntry, we 
cannot fail to be impressed with the conviction that a large 
proportion of that talent which adorns it — that science which 
illustrates it — and that virtue which beautifies it — drew their 
first nourishment within the walls of our various seminaries 
of learning. Should we extend our view into the more 
retired scenes of domestic life — contemplate the familiar inter- 
ourse of society — explore the haunts of vice — we shall again 
perceive to how large an extent individual and social happi- 
ness is connected with early instruction, and how much of 
that which debases and degrades the individual, and contami- 



12 

nates the society of whicli he forms a part, may be traced to 
a total destitution or an erroneous system of youthful educa- 
tion. Trained with care and under the guidance of virtue, 
the native powers of man will expand into a vigorous growth, 
and produce a splendid harvest of usefulness and beneficence : 
allowed to pursue their owm career, or deflected from the 
straight course by false and erroneous systems, the virulence of 
their poison augments with their increase in stature, and they 
spread desolation as wide as their pernicious shades extend. 

The individual who regards the gratification of his own 
ambitious aspirations, as the end and object of his existence, 
may learn from the history of the world, that the most 
conspicuous niches in the temple of fame have been reserved 
for those, who have most distinguished themselves by their 
genius and skill in intellectual pursuits, and by their efforts 
to promote the substantial benefit of man. The heroes and 
demi-gods of the corrupt mythology of the ancients, owed 
their elevation as much to the beneficent objects of their 
achievements, as to the prowess and valor with which they 
were conducted. Although history is too generally a mere 
narrative of crimes and miseries, and particularly in ancient 
times, rarely dwells with much complacency upon the state 
of society, or the progress of literature : — though the melody 
of the poet is hushed by the din of arms, and the pursuits 
which promote the happiness of the species, yield to those 
which minister to their destruction, yet it is the poet and the 
historian — the sculptor and the painter, who have given to 
the conqueror and the hero all of the life which they enjoy 
in after ages. The memorials which they themselves have 
created, are the solitude and the desert — the waitings of 



13 

afflicted humanity, and the hitter tears of hereavement. 
Notwithstanding that the love of excitement is the master 
spring of human action — that the fury of the storm abstracts 
our minds from the placid serenity of nature in her milder 
moods; — that " the earthquake shout of victory — the rapture 
of the strife," seem more congenial to the heart of man, than 

" the olive grove of Academe, — 

Plato's retirement, — where the attic bird 

Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long" — 

there is nevertheless an antagonist principle at work which 
furnishes a palliative, if not a cure for this morbid propensity. 
The earliest settlements of Greece were planted upon a 
barbarous and hostile shore. Her infant feebleness was 
forced into contests upon which her precarious existence hung. 
Her struggles increased with her years, and the whole period 
of her glorious career was an unbroken succession of foreign 
and domestic conflicts. Yet, though trained amid scenes 
where the art of war became the first among the necessary 
avocations of her sons. 

"Unto us she hath a spell, beyond 
Her name in story." 

It was in her prolific soil that the seeds were sown which 
expanded into such glorious fruits of genius and philosophy. 
The fame of her Homer is the brighest ornament in the 
chaplet of her renown. Her orators, poets, historians and 
philosophers, blend themselves with our recollections of the 
past, and give a color to our anticipations of the future. The 
eloquence of Demosthenes has diffused his name more widely 
than that of Philip, and Aristotle achieved a more extensive 
conquest, and built up a more permanent empire, than was 



u 

won by his illusUious pupil. The names of Marathon and 
Thermopylffij may sometimes kindle our imaginations, but 
the perusal of her literature and her science, improves the 
taste, expands the intellect, and multiplies and heightens 
our enjoyments. The glory of Greece exists only in the 
written memorials of her genius. 

In ancient Rome, peculiarly and emphatically warlike, 
cradled in armor and nurtured with blood, the same indica- 
tions are visible. Cicero, Livy, Yirgil and Horace, have 
obscured the glory of Camillus, of Scipio, and almost of the 
Caesars. The influence of Roman literature is felt wherever 
letters are known. But the Imperial City enjoys a supremacy 
of an analogous kind, which constitutes one of the most 
singular monuments of the paramount importance of mind. 
Her code of laws, a stupendous production of intellect, has 
exercised a sway more extensive than her arms. Its power 
is recognized thoughout empires where the eagle of her 
legions was never displayed, even in the palmy days of her 
prosperity, when historic truth might almost have employed 
the poet's boast, 

RomansB spatium est urbis et orbis idem. 

Its influence has been expanding during those centuries 
which have witnessed the humihating submission of Rome 
herself to the ferocious Alaric and the modern Hun. Its 
dominion is not only still controlling in the larger portion of 
Europe, but this judicial polity is engrafted upon our own free 
institutions, and serves as the basis of every code throughout 
our Southern continent. An empire more extensive and 
durable, an influence more expanded and more beneficial, 
than has ever been achieved by merely human power. 



15 

Tlirouglioiit modern Euro[)e, similar lesiills have been 
developed. All liave learned the names of Spenser and of 
Shakspearc — of Milton and of Bacon — of Newton and of 
Locke — while the glory of their military contemporaries is 
already shorn of its beams. Pope and Dryden, Racine and 
YoltairCj are familiar to our ears as household words ; while 
Marlborough and Eugene, Conde and Turenne, are heard 
only at intervals. The family of Medici, Dante, Petrarch, 
Tasso and Ariosto, are still brilliant luminaries in the constel- 
lation of hterature, while the gallant warriors of the day have 
fallen like evanescent meteors upon the dead pall of night. 

All experience tends to the establishment of the truth, that 
national glory is more signally illustrated, and personal fame 
more durably fixed, upon the firm basis of literary and scien- 
tific achievements, than upon the most splendid feats in 
arms. As man improves in intelligence, such must continue 
to be the case. The fame of the poet the orator and the 
philosopher, will expand with the diffusion of knowledge, and 
become more conspicuous as letters become more highly 
esteemed. Every augmentation of the empire of mind must 
enlarge the foundations upon which it rests. 

To the mere aspirant after worldly distinctions — to him 
who has no higher ambition or more glorious hope than that 
of securing to himself an honorable existence in history — this 
is the field in which he may most securely calculate upon a 
rich harvest of renown. Should he enlarge his views beyond 
the circumscribed horizon of personal and selfish interests: — 
should he feel stimulated by an ardent desire to promote the 
happiness of his fellow-men: — should he be animated by a 
lofty and inextinguishable zeal to advance the best interests 



16 

of the couutiy, which ranks him among her sons, he will 
find all these excitements to action — all these rewards for 
exertion in promoting the progress of science. An enlarged 
political wisdom will teach him that the career of national 
prosperity and individual happiness is accelerated by such | 

auxiliaries. War is sometimes, in the mysterious wisdom ■ 

of Providence, a necessary means of dissipating the sluggish 
malaria of despotic encroachment, and of purifying the 
atmosphere of liberty ; but like the magnificent agents of the 
natural world, which perform analogous functions, it is itself 
replete with horrors. War has no creative faculties — all its 
tendencies are destructive. 

The understandings of men are becoming enlightened on/ 
this subject. Within a few years past indications of a mor^ 
healthy state of the public intelligence have exhibited them- 
selves. The mind of man is throwing off the fetters in 
which it had long been bound. Nation is carrying on with 
nation, and individual with individual, the glorious contest 
and striving for victory in arts and science. Literature, no 
longer confined within her accustomed channels, limiting her 
influences to a compartively few, has risen, until elevated 
above the mounds and embankments which had restrained 
her career, she has spread her fertilizing waters over a wide 
expanse. Her course is marked with a new and luxuriant 
vegetation. The elements of education are diffused through- 
out the land, and are understood in every hamlet. Who 
can contemplate the present aspect of the world without 
amazement, and who is gifted with the prophetic spirit which 
can look into the womb of time and measure the results 
which are to be developed ? 



\ 



17 

The intellects of the ablest and wisest men have been 
roused by this new attitude of things. In dehneating the 
effects already exhibited, and the causes which have produced 
them, they are preparing the way for still grander improve- 
ments. A potent engine whose unknown energies had been 
for centuries quiescent, has been set in motion ; millions of 
minds, emancipated from their accustomed restraints, are 
moving as by one mighty impulse, and pressing forward in 
this novel and interesting career. 

In what is all this to terminate? Who can dare to fix 
limits to this glorious change ? If so much has been 
accomplished in days that have gone by, when education 
was confined to a favored few — when nurseries of intellect 
were scattered at remote distances, throughout even the most 
inteUigent portion of the world, like beacons upon a dark and 
barren coast, making the general obscurity still more palpable 
— when the press was unknown, or fettered by every manacle 
which could shackle its. energies — when masses of force were 
employed by despotic and feudal tyranny, to stifle every 
impulse, and to check every movement — what results may 
not be anticipated when this elastic power, no longer pent up 
by artificial restraints, is set free to act, with the whole universe 
as the field of its operations, and the unrepressed energy of 
man, the force which impels the mighty machine. May the 
Being who has created it, preside over and control its motions, 
and give them a direction favorable to the improvement of 
the human race, equally in virtue and in intelligence. 

The claims which are presented by the present position of 
the world, upon individual exertion, are not more obvious 
than the facihties which are furnished for the discharge of 



18 

these high obUgations. One of the mo?t signal characteristics 
of modern times, is exhibited in the enlargement of the objects 
of intellectual pursuit. New fields have been opened for 
philosophical inquiry, while the old ones continue to be 
cultivated with zeal and success. All that is valuable in the 
science and learning of former days, has been preserved and 
improved, while new regions have been discovered and 
explored by the enterprising modern. Classical literature, 
more particularly in the oriental department, has been 
amply illustrated by the indefatigable scholars of the last half 
century; and Germany, England and France, have sustained 
their well-earned reputation. Mathematical pursuits have 
been encouraged by new impulses. The tremendous conflicts 
in which nations have been engaged, have carried, to a 
high degree of perfection, the science of war with which 
the mathematics are nearly connected. The extension of 
commerce, and the excitement of rival enterprise, have 
pushed forward, with equal vigor, the art of navigation, and 
the auxiliary departments of learning ; while the strenuous 
exertions which have been made to explore and to develope 
the internal resources of different nations, by the instrumen- 
tality of schemes of inland communication, have, in another 
field, furnished an equal stimulant and reward for a similar 
description of talent. In no former period of the world has 
the science of engineering — as well civil as military — approxi- 
mated so nearly to perfection, and in none have the practical 
manifestations of its utility been so distinctly exhibited. In 
the loftier branches of the mathematics, allusion need only be 
made to the names of La Place and Bowditch, as proof 
that Newton and Euler have left no vacuum behind them. 



19 

Perhaps in nothing lias this modern clevelopement of talent 
been more strikingly exhibited than in the improvements 
which have occurred in practical mechanics. Your attention 
need not be particularly pointed to the almost infinite variety 
of useful inventions which may be found in every dwelling, 
and in every scene of manual labor, and which are treasured 
up in the public repositories of the evidences of modern 
ingenuity. The perfection to which labor-saving machinery 
has been brought, the innumerable objects to which it is 
applied, and the almost incredible effects which it has accom. 
plished, can be only thus briefly noticed. The improvement, 
and virtually the invention, of the steam engine, is the work 
of recent years, and its powerful as well as its minute eflliciency 
constitutes the period of its introduction an epoch in the 
history of the world. It would almost seem to have afforded 
to man an instrument by which to move the globe, while it 
enables him to execute the most complex operations with the 
smallest atoms. By it, his physical power has been augmented 
to an incalculable extent, while it has equally contributed to 
Increase and to disseminate comfort and intelligeiTce. 

Never before did the members of the learned professions, as 
they have been termed, though the grounds of this distinction 
have ceased to exist, stand more eminently distinguished for the 
variety and extent of their acquirements. The most valu- 
able commentaries upon the scriptures — the illustrations of 
their meaning, which have been sought and discovered in the 
history and antiquities of the Eastern nations; — the powerful 
aid, which has been derived from profane literature and the 
improvements in science, to enforce and establish their divine 
origin — the fidehty of their narratives, and the fulfilment of 



20 

their prophecies, have exhibited the modern defenders of the 
faith in high reUef. During the same period the medical pro- 
fession has been illustrated by some of the most brilliant names 
which its entire history presents; and it never occupied a higher 
rank than it now holds, either for the variety or the profundity 
of the acquirements by which its members have long been 
eminently conspicuous. Many circumstances have combined 
to elevate the profession of the law in a proportionate degree. 
The convulsions which have shaken the civilized world, to its 
centre — the rise and fall of states — the disruption of those ties 
which formerly held nations under some degree of restraint — 
the character of the measures adopted for the enforcement of 
belligerent claims, and for the ascertainment and vindication 
of neutral rights, have tasked all the learning and intellect of 
the bar and the bench, as well as of practical statesmen, to a 
wider and deeper inquiry into the origin, the foundations, 
and the principles of international law, than any previous 
period in the history of man required. The vast extension 
of commerce, the infinite variety of contracts and the multi- 
farious connexions to which it has given birth, have furnished 
the occasion, as well as prescribed the necessity for giving a 
scientific and systematic form to that large and important 
branch of the law which relates to these complex subjects. 
Independently of these circumstances, the strengthening of 
the connexion between the different departments of govern- 
ment, though administered by various hands ; the wide field 
which has been opened under free and liberal institutions, 
more especially our own, for the discussion of questions 
growing out of those constitutions upon which depend the 
political organization of states, have caused a more thorough 



21 

investigation to be made into tlie foundations of civil society, 
the fundamental laws of government, and the relative rights 
and duties of the people, and those by whom their affairs are 
administered, than man ever before felt inclined, or indeed 
was permitted to make. It would not perhaps be going too 
far to affirm, that the laws of American jurists have already 
contributed more to illustrate the subjects to which reference 
has just been made, and to estabhsh them upon a solid and 
substantial basis, than the combined exertions of all the 
writers of antiquity. 

Should we extend our view to what are usually denomi- 
nated the fields of lighter literature, we cannot fail to be 
struck with the manifestations of modern intellect. Since 
the commencement of the present century, this department 
has been embellished by an Edge worth, a Scott, our own 
Irving and Cooper; while Byron, rivalling Dante in his 
mysterious sublimity, despite his profligacy and his crimes, 
has stamped with his enduring name the poetic age in which 
he flourished. 

Independently of these objects of intellectual pursuit, 
which have for ages attracted their respective votaries, 
there are other fields for the exercise of mind which may 
almost hterally be said to have been discovered within the 
brief period of a century. Linnaeus may well be termed the 
father of botany, as it is now understood. Scarcely one 
hundred years have elapsed since his name was first faintly 
heard in a narrow part of his native land, and already 
botany has assumed an equal station among the sciences. 
Hundreds of enterprising and untiring followers are now 
scattered over the world, exploring every desert, every moun- 



22 - . 

tain, and every rivulet between tiie poles, and furnishing 
their contributions to increase the enjoyments of the lover of 
nature, and to minister to the necessities, the comfort and the 
luxury of man. Natural history has attracted her proportion 
of votaries, and is improving in an equal ratio. Chemistry, 
drawing its origin from the crude and irrational pursuits of 
the deceived and deceiving alchymist, has attained an equal 
elevation. Her influences are felt in the improvements of 
agriculture and the arts, while they extend to the every day 
enjoyments of every member of a civilized community. 
Geology and mineralogy, under the guidance of a sound 
philosophy, have awakened a kindred interest in the mind 
of intellectual man, and the inmost recesses and profoundest 
depths of the earth are explored, to beautify and adorn its 
exterior. 

Nor is this enlargement of the boundaries of science the 
only remarkable characteristic of the times in which we live. 
The height to which it has been carried, is not more striking 
than the extent to which it has been spread. The breadth 
of the foundation bears a fair proportion to the towering 
elevation of the edifice. The loftiest intellects and the most 
profound acquirements have been devoted as well to smooth 
the ascent up the road they have journeyed, as to push 
forward into new paths of exploration. In every department 
of science the elementary treatises and modes of instruction, 
which are designed to open the portals within which its 
mysteries are enshrined, have become numerous and per- 
spicuous beyond all former example. FaciUties for acquiring 
the fundamental principles of every science, are accessible to 
each member of the community. Instead of being enshrouded 



23 

within I lie recesses of a cloister, or the profound seclusion of 
a College, philosophy now walks abroad ; she holds up the 
page of knowledge to each individual, and points out to 
him, in every object which surrounds him, the means of 
improvement. The great ends of education are better 
comprehended, and the means more skilfully applied. The 
mere acquisition of ideas from the exterior world, is without 
value. The mind into which the stream of knowledge is 
poured, must be fertihzed by its living waters, or they will 
prove of little worth. The opinions of others, and the facts 
which are accumulated, must be the instruments with which, 
and the elements upon which, it exercises its own faculties — 
its powers of analysis and combination, comparison and 
judgment. There must exist an animating and informing 
spirit, which shall bring together the crude materials — reduce 
them to symmetry — arrange them into order, and breathe 
into them a living soul. 

1 1 cannot escape the notice of any observer of the present 
situation of the scientific and literary world, that the character 
of modern improvement is intimately connected with practical 
lUiHty. The mind of man has not been enriched with any 
new faculties ; it has been not so much strengthened and 
invigorated as it has received a new direction. The studies 
which were calculated merely to gratify a vain curiosity — to 
call into exercise the powders of a refining and scholastic 
subtlety, which had no connexion with the permanent good 
of the species — have fallen into desuetude. If we contrast 
the subjects about which men were curious and inquisitive 
during the middle ages, with those which now engage their 
attention, we shall plainly perceive that to the diversity 



24 

between the objects of their pursuit and to their different 
modes of philosophising, may be traced much of what 
distinguishes the one era from the other. At the earlier 
period, the inductive philosophy was unknown. The mind 
was incessantly upon the rack, in speculations which exercised 
its ingenuity in metaphysical refinements, but which produced 
no practical or beneficial result. In such employments, 
miscalled philosophical, the distinctive characteristic of man 
was lost; no individual was aided in his progress by the 
advances which his contemporaries had made ; no generation 
smoothed the path of its successor. All movement was 
personal, and discoveries which modern times have applied 
to useful purposes, were neglected and contemned when they 
lay insulated and disjoined. 

Under the guidance of a sound philosophy, every step 
which each individual makes, facilitates the general advance. 
Every augmentation of knowledge is a contribution to a 
common stock. Each generation comes as it were by 
inheritance into the possession of this rich accumulation of 
preceding centuries, and bequeaths it, not merely unimpaired, 
but essentially increased in value, to those who are to come 
after. Such is the character of genuine philosophy ; — such 
is its character in the present age. In discharging the high 
obligations thus conferred upon us, every aim should be 
directed to the useful — the practically — the essentially useful. 
Every vista in the ample domain of science should lead to a 
temple dedicated to the benefit of man. 

Upon a superficial view, danger might be apprehended, 
lest in the exclusive search after what is merely useful, much 
that is glorious and ennobling should be overlooked. If 



25 

such an anticipation ever existed, experience and a close 
observation must dissipate the groundless fear. An enlarged 
and liberal view has been taken of the matter : — a philoso- 
phical and comprehensive survey has been made of the 
whole field of science. Immediate and obvious good has not 
alone been sought. The intimate connexion which subsists 
between the different objects of intellectual pursuit — even those 
at first view the most widely separated — has been explored 
and exhibited. The golden chain has been traced, which 
binds together, in one harmonious whole, the entire circle of 
the sciences, causing them to revolve with perfect regularity 
round the fixed centre of truth. It has been perceived 
and felt, and acknowledged, that they are not insulated and 
disconnected, but that they constitute parts of one magnificent 
and entire system, mutually contribuling to each other's 
orderly movements, and mutually receiving andc ommunica- 
ting light and heat. The graces of a beautiful literature, the 
coruscations of genius, and the refinements of taste, are 
appreciated, not merely as ornamental embeUishments, but 
as useful adjuncts, and even necessary appendages. ' Taking 
an extensive view of man, his capacities and his faculties, 
looking to the sources of his purest enjoyments, and the 
foundations of his substantial happiness, every thing which 
has a tendency to enlarge his powers — to elevate his 
conceptions — to purify and refine his taste, or to augment 
the number of his intellectual and moral pleasures, is 
deserving of that degree of his attention to which its 
comparative influence, in the accomplishment of these ends, 
entitles it. 

In the scientific world the minute subdivisions of labor are 

D 



26 

no longer the objects of scrupulous vi^lance. In the purely 
mechanical employments they have been found eminently 
useful, if not essentially necessary. Even there, however, 
they have a tendency to cramp the mind, and to reduce its 
naturally gigantic and expansive powers within the narrow 
limits, and submit it to the enfeebling regulations of mere 
machinery. Such tendencies are wholly at war with the 
very genius of philosophy. By that we are taught that 
there is a lofty and spacious dome, of which the various 
sciences are the supporting columns, which partakes of the 
strength and of the character which each communicates. 
The magnificent truth which Bacon promulgated, is now 
universally recognized. "Prospectationes fiunt a turribus aut 
locis praealtis, et impossibile est ut quis exploret remotiores inte- 
rioresque scientiae alicujus partes, si stet super piano ejusdem 
scientise, neque altioris scientiee veluti speculum conscendat." 
In taking even this rapid and necessarily very imperfect 
view of the present state of the scientific world, the induce- 
ments and facilities which it holds out to increased exertion to 
promote its cause, and the hopes which it furnishes of its 
future prosperity, it would be unpardonable before such an 
audience and upon this theatre, to omit to notice the 
intimate connexion which subsists between the progress of 
the human mind and the advancement in political privileges. 
The great ruling power to which men submit, and before 
which monarchs are compelled to bow, is public opinion. 
In proportion as men advance in knowledge, — in pro- 
portion as that knowledge is disseminated, the conduct of 
rulers is subjected to a more jealous scrutiny; the rights 
of individuals are more thoroughly understood, and more 



27 

assiduously vvatcbedj and as public opinion becomes more 
enlightened it becomes more efficient. Every improvement 
of intellect — every increase in the dissemination of intelligence, 
enlarges the influence which public opinion exercises over 
those transactions which affect communities, and over the 
individuals who control the interests of nations. Men act 
upon a loftier stage and in a broader theatre. The eyes of 
the reflecting and intelligent portion of mankind are upon 
them, to scan their actions and to scrutinize their conduct. 
A judgment as sure and as just as that which was pronounced 
over the graves of the monarchs of Egypt, now proclaims 
the meed of praise or censure which an impartial public 
opinion has awarded to living men. No despot is so shrouded 
within the recesses of his palace, but that this public opinion 
will make itself heard ; none so ensconced behind his battle- 
ments, or surrounded by his mercenaries, but that it will 
make itself obeyed. 

The principles thus brought into action are in rapid 
progress throughout the world. In Great Britain, they serve 
as the only basis upon which their entire institutions rest. 
The turrets of feudal tyranny are mouldering into dust — the 
stupendous buttresses which had been erected to sustain the 
monarch — the hierarchy and the nobility, already require 
extraneous supports to preserve them from falling into utter 
dilapidation. France, during the last half century, has coursed 
the rounds of rude and desultory efforts to incorporate freedom 
into her institutions, and must fail in every attempt, until she 
can succeed in establishing the only solid foundation of every 
free government, an enlightened public opinion. Prussia and 
Germany appear to be smothering with ashes the inextin- 



28 

guishable sparks of liberty ; and the shores of the Baltic and 
the Mediterranean have witnessed the convulsive throes 
which presage the tremendous struggle in which public 
opinion is to strive for the mastery. The same mighty 
power has effected a lodgment in the strong holds of the 
Moslem ; it is now operating within the walls of Constanti- 
nople, and Egypt has recognised the existence and the 
influence of this potent engine. 

In all these countries, public opinion, however crude in its 
character, and wrong in its conceptions, is in advance of 
the government, and has assumed an attitude hostile to 
existing institutions. The rulers are aware of the dangers 
which menace them, and are striving to strangle this infant 
Hercules in his cradle. But the fountains of the great deep 
have been broken up — the elements ot knowledge have been 
too widely scattered to be exterminated, and while they retain 
the vital energy with which they are imbued, they will strike 
their roots into every rock, and spring up in luxuriant growth 
in every valley, where the winds of heaven may waft them. 
The overwhelming power of an armed despot may here and 
there crush the efforts of men determined to be free, but 
experience will sooner or later teach them that the stream of 
liberty, though compelled to hide itself for a time in one 
region, yet, like the fabled fountain of Arethusa, will pour 
forth its waters with renovated vigor and pristine purity in 
another. 

In this blessed country, no such strugle awaits us. We 
have long been in the actual fruition of entire freedom. That 
public opinion, which is, in less favored climes, the most 
dangerous foe of existing institutions, is the cherished friend 



29 

and powerful auxiliary of our own. That improvement in 
science, that diffusion of knowledge which are elsewhere 
regarded with jealousy and distrust, are here stimulated and 
encouraged by every motive which can rouse men and 
patriots to exertion. In Europe, we have seen royal decrees 
interdicting the general diffusion of knowledge ; — here the 
public treasure is, as a measure of permanent policy, appro- 
priated to its furtherance. Throughout the old world, the 
influence of enlightened intelligence tends to demolish or 
reform the frame of government; — here it is united and 
active to sustain the fabric of our free institutions. Upon us 
has devolved the high and responsible duty of preserving 
that constitution and that liberty, which we deem insepara- 
ble ; and in the enjoyment of which, all participate. If the 
gaUing yoke of servitude disqualifies men for freedom, let it 
not be said — and our history vouched to sustain the assertion 
— that liberty only makes them fit for slavery. If, in other 
countries, the strong arm of power is constantly on the alert to 
restrain the energies of man — to close the door to his improve- 
ment — to bind his mind in fetters — here, where our course is 
free, and our march unrestrained — let it be made apparent, that 
if a competent degree of inteUigence is essential to the proper 
use of liberty, this necessary ahment is the spontaneous 
growth of free institutions. If, in the old world, under every 
discouragement, individuals will devote themselves to the 
cultivation of letters — prompted to the task by a desire to 
find a support for their youth, a comfort for their declining 
age, an embellishment for their prosperous fortunes, and a 
solace in their adversity — let us, while not unmindful of these 
motives for cherishing them, regard them with additional 



30 

favor as ihe sacred palladium whose presence furnishes 
ample securit}^ to our country's citadel. 

The essential principle upon which our government rests, 
that which distinguishes it from all which have preceded it, 
is, that the people possess the right and enjoy the power of 
forming their own judgment upon all measures of public 
pohcy, and of selecting objects of their own choice for 
the management of their affairs. The legislative and 
executive departments are but the exponents of the general 
will, and the enactment of laws is but the clothing the 
same expression in proper form, and attaching to it specific 
sanctions. If the depositaries of public confidence were of 
themselves to administer the powers with which the nation 
is invested ; were the}^ to be able to wield a force which 
could command submission to their measures, it would soon 
be discovered that the power of removing such as might 
prove unfaithful, was an empty shadow, and the ballot box 
an idle bubble. Public opinion is the only controlhng influ- 
ence known in our country: no law can be enforced, no 
measure persevered in, contrary to its dictates, or independently 
of its sanction. The whole executive power would be feeble 
without its aid, and the judiciary could not execute a single 
judgment if deprived of its support. 

Under such institutions, those who are chosen by the people, 
to fill stations of dignity and power, are usually selected in 
consequence of a real or supposed congeniality of character, 
sympathy of feeling, and identity of principle, between them 
and their constituents. They not merely represent the wishes, 
but they may be regarded as an accurate standard by which 
to measure the virtue and intelligence which exist among the 



31 

people. The higher the latter are elevated in intellect, antl 
the more thoroughly they are imbued with sound principles, 
the loftier will be the grade of qualification exacted of such 
as present themselves as candidates for public favor. 

These considerations open an ample field for calm and 
deliberate reflection, which our limited time forbids us to 
explore. The jealous character of the American people has 
wisely induced them to avoid standing armies of hired mer- 
cenaries, or to raise up a distinct and separate class in the 
community to defend us against foreign aggression. Every 
citizen is inured to the use of arms ; in the individual valor 
of our countrymen we repose our principal security, as the 
military defence of the nation. How infinitely more impor- 
tant a safeguard may they be rendered against the dangers 
which menace all free governments, if furnished with the arms 
of political warfare, and skilled by experience in their use. 
These arms are supplied by education ; every citizen entitled 
to exercise the elective franchise, should be trained to their 
employment, and habituated to canvass the measures of the 
government, in all its departments, with the circumspection 
which duty demands, and with the freedom that becomes 
enhghtened and intelligent votaries of liberty. 

Imperfect and inaccurate estimates of these important 
and vital duties, are not less to be deprecated than entire 
ignorance. More is required for their faithful and beneficial 
fulfilment, than mere intellectual improvement. Acuteness 
of mind, and a vigilant regard to public affairs, will not 
always render a man a more valuable citizen. It is far 
more essential that he should possess sound and virtuous 
principles. To confer intelligence upon a vicious man, only 



32 

renders liiiu more dangerous to the community. Knowledge 
is power ; but it is a power which may be wielded either as a 
blessing or a curse, accordingly as it is directed by virtue or 
by vice. Artful demagogues may mislead an ignorant popu- 
lace ; a corrupt one is already a fit tool for their incendiary 
plans : a virtuous people, instructed in its rights, is secure 
against their deleterious influence. The welfare of nations is 
far more closely connected with the general dissemination of 
sound principles of action, than with the advancement of 
mere inteUigence. It has too frequently happened, that ages 
and countries, most distinguished for intellectual vigor and 
refinement, have been disgraced by the most open and 
undisguised licentiousness of manners; but history furnishes 
no example of a people being deprived of freedom, until vice 
and corruption had betrayed its essential defences, and opened 
the gates for the invasion of the foreign foe. 

It has been profoundly and judiciously remarked, that the 
only accurate knowledge which man possesses, of the surface 
of the earth, has been derived from the previous knowledge 
which he had acquired of the phenomena of the stars ; with 
at least equal truth, may it be affirmed that all the correct 
information which he has of his duties to himself — his family 
— his country, and his species, has been derived from light 
communicated from heaven. 

Every page of history illustrates the connexion which a 
wise Providence has established between private virtue and 
national prosperity. The great stream of modern improve- 
ment may be traced back to the christian religion as its 
principal source. That religion has breathed its benignant 
spirit into the code of international law, and ameliorated, 



33 

where it has not exteiiiiinated, the Ijarbaroiis and ciuei 
practices of war which offended humanity. It has controlled 
the evil propensities of tyrants, and mitigated the oppression 
of despotism. It has cahned the excited passions of the 
multitude when roused to vindicate their rights; and to 
its benign influence may be attributed the extraordinary 
spectacles, which modern and christian countries have alone 
exhibited, of revolutions accompUshed without murder, and 
civil wars waged without a massacre. It has contributed 
to foster a bold and undaunted spirit of independence — a 
determined and resolute resistance to tyranny in all its shapes. 
It has rendered men better qualified to enjoy freedom when 
acquired, and more zealous to defend it with energy when 
assailed. It has equally contributed to purify and enlighten 
public opinion, and to confer upon it that paramount influence 
which it now possesses. All its tendencies, when not swayed 
by the corrupting passions of men, are salutary and invigora- 
ting. The very origin of Christianity, its vital and pervading 
principle, is unbounded love to man ; its most conspicuous 
event was proclaimed from heaven, amid the shouts of 
angels, announcing this as its end and object, and its fruits 
are the advancement of human happiness in its most com- 
prehensive and elevated signification. 

The venerable institution with which we are connected, 
owed its establishment to the philanthrophical views of its 
founders. The influence of religion was its origin — the 
benefit of man its aim. The fathers of our country perceived 
and acknowledged, that to heaven they looked for succor 
and support in every kind of peril and of difficulty ; and 
with pious confidence they invoked its blessings upon all 

E 



34 

their great unilerta kings. Tliese eminent oxamplea arc 
worthy of our humble imitation. We may retjt assured that 
when rehgious education shall become universally diffused 
throughout our land — when every citizen of this great nation 
sliall be instructed in the pure and unadulterated doctrines of 
Christianity, the American people may well deem themselves 
equally and effectually secured, against foreign aggression 
and domestic convulsion. The same Being who made, will 
preserve us a nation. Our free institutions will rest upon 
the rock of ages — a foundation which can never fail — and 
our countrymen will prove themselves eminently worthy 
of the many and inestimable blessings, which have been 
showered upon them by a beneficent Providence. 



AN ADDRESS', 

DELIVERED BY 

RICHARD S. COXE, ESQ. 
AT PRXircETOxr, nr, j. 

SEPTKMBBR, 34:, 1833. 






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